The Three Archangels and the Major Arcana - Page 2
© Elizabeth Bissette
Chief of the Choir of Virtues,
Prince of the Presence,
Commander of the Armies of the Heavens (his name is their war cry) and
Prince of Light who led and will lead the forces of good against evil. He led the battle that expelled Lucifer from Heaven and will again lead the Army of God against him at the Apocalypse .
References to Michael and to un-named Angels assumed to be Michael in Jewish and Christian scriptures are:
the Angel who spoke to Moses in the burning bush,
the Angel who stopped Abraham from slaying Isaac,
the Angel who massacred the Assyrian army,
the protector of Adam and Eve after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden,
one of the three Angels who visited Abraham and
one of the five Angels who buried Moses and the Angel who fought with Satan for his body.
In Catholicism, Michael is also the Angel of Death. At the hour of death, Michael descends and gives each soul a chance to repent. He then carries souls to heaven and there weighs each on scales (not unlike Maat , Hermes and Osiris). Catholicism dubs him Guardian of the Church and supreme enemy of Satan and other fallen Angels.
Key 14
Temperance
Raphael, the Angel of the Sun, healing , science and knowledge, appears in the Book of Tobias . He heals the title characters' blindness with medicine. He also protects a newly married couple from evil.
Raphael is also identified with the Angel who stirred the waters in the healing pool of Bethesda (the Gospel of John). In the story, the sick came to the pool and waited for an Angel who came down from time to time and got in the pool. When the water moved, those who went into it were healed.
He is described as the happiest, funniest and one of the best loved of the Heavenly Host. He heads the Guardian Angles and the Angelic Orders of Virtues. Raphael is described as bringing health, happiness and joy wherever he goes.
Key 20
Judgment
The Archangel Gabriel
In Judaic, Islamic and Christian tradition, Gabriel is the highest of all Angels. He has been called the angel of the Power of God and also the Angel of Judgment. He is equated with thunder and majesty.
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